News: Training is a two-way street

A student of San Marcos Elementary School stares at U.S. Soldiers with Joint Task Force Jaguar, who are building two classrooms and restrooms in El Salvador, May 16, 2013. Beyond the Horizon is a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff-directed, U.S. Southern Command-sponsored joint and combined field training humanitarian exercise in which troops specializing in engineering, construction and health care provide much-needed services to communities in need while receiving valuable deployment training and building important relationships with partner nations. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Julio A. NievesReleased)

By Staff Sgt. Ian Shay

RANCHO SAN MARCOS, El Salvador- U.S. engineers from the 136th Engineer Company (vertical), have sharpened their construction skills by building schools here during Beyond the Horizon-El Salvador 2013. They also receive immediate gratitude from the children who will be benefiting from their work.

“It’s very rewarding. Some of the other annual trainings we have done the kids aren’t there, they don’t get to see it, we don’t get to see them see it, so we don’t see how they react,” said Spc. Jed Hutchins, a carpentry and mason engineer, 136th Engineer Company (vertical).

Here in El Salvador, Hutchins and the other engineers receive instant feedback from the schoolchildren.

“When on break, the kids from the elementary school next door come to the windows and to the actual site to talk to us and thank us for the school we are building for them,” said Hutchins.
Salvadoran soldiers on the project have their own feelings about the project.

“Pride, is the word that describes how I feel about this project,” said Salvadoran army engineer Pvt. Adelso Torres-Suriano. “I remember growing up and going to school in a very small and deteriorated building. This building is like a dream come true for students, parents and the community.”